Developing User Interfaces: Ensuring Usability Through Product & Process (Wiley) [Paperback]

Deborah Hix (Author), H. Rex Hartson (Author)

Book Description

ISBN-10: 0471578134 | ISBN-13: 978-0471578130 | Publication Date: May 10, 1993 | Edition: 1

Developing User Interfaces Ensuring Usability Through Product & Process "This book is an important milestone in our progress toward embracing user-centered design. This is the first book to emphasize process.[it] details a pragmatic approach to the interface development process in a way that is immediately useful to practitioners struggling to produce usable interfaces." --James D. Foley, Georgia Tech So you want to develop user interfaces for interactive systems? This practical book will show you how to do just that. Developing User Interfaces is about ensuring high usability through the user interface development process independently of widgets, software, toolkits, and implementation considerations. The hands-on approach of this book uses practical exercises to apply the material presented with a suggested solution for each exercise. You will learn a quantitative approach to usability goals, usability evaluation, and management of the interface development process. Developing User Interfaces shows how to:
* Write a customized style guide and apply human factor guidelines to your interface designs
* Understand and know when to use currently available interaction styles in your interface designs
* Understand and apply the concept of an iterative life cycle for user interface development
* Use behavioral, user-centered representation techniques for capturing your interface designs
* Establish usability specifications to measure quantitatively the usability of your interface
* Build effective rapid prototypes of your interface designs
* Carry out formative usability evaluation as your interface evolves
* Perform cost/benefit and other analyses to determine which changes to the interface will have the biggest impact on usability

Editorial Reviews

From Library Journal

The ultimate aim of desktop computing is to make computing more transparent and part of our everyday lives. Unfortunately, computers have not yet become part of the home and office landscape like telephones and photocopiers. Why? According to Hix and Hartson of Virginia Tech, it's because of poorly designed user interfaces. The first two chapters help us think about the product-that is, an interface-itself, not in a vacuum but in concert with potential users. The underlying premise is that "the user should not have to adapt to the interface." The process of developing an interface fills the rest of the book. Designed for students exploring interfaces and more experienced programmers, this book is a practical rather than philosophic examination of computer interactions with users.
Copyright 1994 Reed Business Information, Inc.

From the Publisher

Presents state-of-the-art material on user interface product and process in a single volume with an easy-to-understand, practical approach. Discusses representation techniques for interface design. Addresses user interface design in light of newest technology, including MS Windows, X and a variety of object-oriented tools. Provides examples for successful implementation. Based on a successful course taught nationwide.

See all Editorial Reviews

Product Details

• Paperback: 416 pages
• Publisher: Wiley; 1 edition (May 10, 1993)
• Language: English
• ISBN-10: 0471578134
• ISBN-13: 978-0471578130
• Product Dimensions: 9.2 x 7.5 x 1 inches
• Shipping Weight: 1.9 pounds (View shipping rates and policies)
• Average Customer Review: 3.3 out of 5 stars  See all reviews (3 customer reviews)
• Amazon Best Sellers Rank: #2,336,300 in Books (See Top 100 in Books)

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Customer Reviews

Most Helpful Customer Reviews

2 of 3 people found the following review helpful:

4.0 out of 5 stars Process for usability, January 8, 2004

By 

chrishmorris (Manchester, UK) - See all my reviews

This review is from: Developing User Interfaces: Ensuring Usability Through Product & Process (Wiley) (Paperback)

Ths book is special for showing how high usability goals change the software development process.

It is also though-provoking on how to implement usability.

In regard to the reviewer who thought it was all common sense:
a good usability solution looks natural to the user,
but its only common sense after someone has thought of it.
The unique contribution of good usability designers is in what they reject, not it what they accept.

2 of 5 people found the following review helpful:

2.0 out of 5 stars Nothing but Common Sense, September 26, 2000

By 

JB (USA) - See all my reviews

This review is from: Developing User Interfaces: Ensuring Usability Through Product & Process (Wiley) (Paperback)

Somehow the authors manage to fill several hundred pages without ever saying anything interesting or beyond the level of common sense. The authors seem to try to avoid discussing specifics, but talking about user interfaces in general terms has very little value in my opinion. I'm sure there are many better books available on this topic, so my advice is to keep looking!

0 of 3 people found the following review helpful:

4.0 out of 5 stars Usability Frist!, May 9, 2000

By 

Sriram Sridharan - See all my reviews

This review is from: Developing User Interfaces: Ensuring Usability Through Product & Process (Wiley) (Paperback)

This book gives a new approach to interface developement process, which will ensure USABILITY throughout the developement lifecycle. Anybody who who wants to develop interfaces(software & web) with good usability, can be benefited by this book.